The Burning Plain (2009)

Excellent adaptation.

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

All that we are seeing on the screen is happening with real people, real action sequences in the background, forcing the eye to watch as if we were there.

Blistering performances.

only from some of the cast. The film is not as cohesive as you'd expect from its marquee. On the page it looks likes the who is who of acting are about to tell a riveting tale, I mean we are talking Academy award winners Kim Basinger, Charlize Theron and Jennifer Lawrence (before she won hers of course) flanked by a slew of critically acclaimed supporting actors like Danny Pino, Joaquim de Almeida and Robin Tunney just to name a few. Yet somewhere along the way the story gets quite sluggish and some of the actors begin to look perplexed (especially Theron who is usually above the mark in all her roles) and/or disinterested. Perhaps the most harrowing performance you'll see here comes from Kim Basinger who plays the mother of Mariana (Lawrence & later Theron) and the way she in not so many words conveys the pain, anguish and discontent of her character Nina, a married mother of four who is trapped in a very routine and passionless marriage. Mariana (as played by Lawrence) appears in the flashback scenes in a supporting but very poignant role, her decisions help shape and provide a resolution for the movie.

I finally got a chance to watch The Burning Plain this afternoon, and was absolutely captivated. Everything from the script, to the cinematography, and certainly the performances within the film itself really dazzled me.Gradually, the plot unfolds in front of us, as we watch several layers of a story. One layer involves two lovers who had an affair that ended up being killed in a trailer during a fire; we watch as the families deal with the repercussions of their deaths, and the reveal of their infidelity. Another layer involves the daughter of the woman who had the affair, and the son of the man involved with her, as they try to cope with their knowledge of the affair afterwards. The final layer involves a woman who goes from man to man seemingly, and doesn't seem to enjoy her life very much. All of these stories come together, but not before weaving around awhile. I thought I had an idea of what was going on, but there was one element I really had not anticipated, and when it happened (you'll know it when you see it yourself) I was absolutely shocked. A great and often moving (in many ways) story about a torrid love affair, and the effects it has on the lives of everybody near it. I give this film a 10 out of 10. I really don't see how people can't enjoy it, and if they don't, well that's their opinion! However, the look of this film right down to the performances in it make this one you do not want to miss. A good performance for Jennifer Lawrence should be noted especially seeing as how she is now rising and rising in her fame; she played a great role. Kim Basinger and Charlize Theron also display some fine acting, too.

There's great stuff in this film by Guillermo Arriaga, which also was behind Amores perros, 21 Grams and Babel, which is all good. This is also very interesting, but maybe Arriaga here goes a bit lost in his own storytelling? It's possible to love the excitement and dramatics of loose cannons, but there's maybe a couple to many out here.This film will be loved by many, others will be turned off by the edited storyline, the slow pace, the strange and often appalling behavior of otherwise neat people. This is also things which makes other interested. But this has been done better, without the bad behavior. It's real enough, the exaggerations makes it less believable. There's simply not that many insane people in a small place like this, doing the wrong and right things the way they are here.Good acting, but still some annoying ways of behavior. Great scenery though bleak use of nature, a lingering excitement though not fulfillment, great ideas though purely executed. Though could have been amazing, like f.e. The Dead Girl, but is just a good try. A nice try in a everyday environment, but somehow it's difficult in accepting the way people act when in different situations. It all gets a bit to desperate.It's not difficult to follow, though Arriaga has made his best in trying to confuse and lose the audience on the way. But I feel that the film is lost in a try to make this film more important, serious and real than necessary, and therefore loses some of its way. Love and life is difficult, and often messy, but the filmmaking hasn't got to enhance that. Kudos for good idea, but next time make someone see it over!

Screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga makes his directorial debut with this sometimes disjointed drama piecing together a web of three love stories that interconnect. Charlize Theron plays a sex craving woman troubled by her past. Kim Basinger is cast as a depressed housewife that needs a torrid adulterous affair to seek completeness. Jennifer Lawrence and J.D. Prado are a couple of teens that enter a forbidden relationship in trying to mourn while trying to understand the horrific death of their parents. If you are already depressed...shy away. You must really devote your attention to this one; but if you get lost the finale will answer any questions. After seeing Miss Lawrence in POKER HOUSE and WINTER'S BONE, I just couldn't pass this film up. No disappointment from where I sit. This movie is not recommended for children. The supporting cast includes: Robin Tunney, Joaquim de Almeida, Jose Maria Yazpik, Tessa La, Danny Pino and John Corbett.